Rejected Stones

Found, Two Lost Children

Beta'd and edited by kylekatarn77

1. Found, Two Lost Children

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.

― Amelia Earhart

"Not without a quirk."

Those words echoed in Izuku's head as he stumbled home, his very world crumbling all around him. Words spoken to him by his childhood idol, the world's greatest hero, All Might. Izuku Midoriya was different, quirkless, and could never realize his dream of being a hero.

"You're just a quirkless freak. Go jump off a building."

The words of a former friend, of a peer Izuku admired and respected. Bakugo, who had always been stronger and better than Izuku. He'd spent years showing Izuku that with no quirk, he could never rise to Bakugo's level, could never achieve their shared dream of becoming heroes like All Might.

"Izuku, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

His mother had wept as she spoke those words to a young child in mourning, words that had been the first to try to shatter Izuku's desires.

He'd tried to ignore them all. He'd studied, he'd planned, he'd thought he'd done everything he could to emulate All Might, surrounding himself with memorabilia and imagery, hoping to become like the world's greatest hero.

And then, Izuku met All Might. He'd been saved from near certain death at the hands of a monstrous slime villain. Just as Izuku had always imagined, All Might had swooped in, and with a single blow, saved Izuku and reassured him with a smile. But then, Izuku had asked the fateful question.

"Can I be a hero? Even without a quirk?"

All Might had sighed. He'd shook his head. "I'm sorry. Not without a quirk." He'd said more after that, and part of Izuku knew All Might had been trying to save Izuku from the scars and pain All Might had gone through, to protect this quirkless boy. But that hadn't been what Izuku had heard. All he'd heard was the cacophony of his dreams shattering.

"I'm worthless," Izuku muttered, kicking at a dented can. It splashed through a puddle and clattered down the battered pavement of the alleyway, banging against a rusted dumpster. "I'm quirkless. How could I ever be a hero?"

"By helping me!" the dumpster said cheerfully.

"W-who are you?" Izuku stammered, nearly jumping out of his skin. "What are you saying?!"

"You can be a hero! Just help me and my baby out, I'm stuck!" the dumpster answered, it's voice echoing and distorted.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry?! Did your quirk turn you into a dumpster? Some people have transformation quirks and they can lose control, maybe I could call the police or-"

"No, just help me! I'm not the dumpster, I'm in the dumpster. I got stuck!"

"O-oh, OK, um, I'll try!" Izuku set his bag on the ground and lifted the lid off the dumpster, stretching to toss it off. Inside he found the smiling face of a girl wearing a pair of odd looking intricate goggles, her face coated in grim and most of her body buried in trash.

"Hi! I'm Mei Hatsume," the girl said. "I am looking for materials for my super cute babies! But, well, my newest baby seems to be malfunctioning. I think some trash got stuck in its servo joints, or the wiring got tangled. Ha! But that's OK, because you are going to help me!"

"Um, yeah, I think I can. W-what about your baby, um, is it ok?" Izuku asked, peering into the dumpster. "I don't see it."

"It's the Power Suit! I'm wearing it," Mei stated. "It's a mechanical exoskeleton designed to enhance the users strength! It's going to revolutionize the hero industry! I was going to use it to find some salvage to build even more super cute babies, but the Power Suit has seized up and now I can't move. That is amusing, because it should make moving easier!"